That Uncomfortable Feeling
I recently read an article based on the stated premise that “the Bible should be read for one’s enjoyment.” With that objective, it was no surprise that the rest of the piece consisted of the author aggressively working to convince his readers to purposefully disregard and ignore any parts of the Bible that would make them feel uncomfortable or might impinge on their modern sensibilities.
Of course, the author wanted his readers to affirm his premise and dutifully conform to his directives, regardless of “how difficult it might be to alter their traditional views” of the Bible. This was a classic example of how seriously we expect other people to take our words, even while we sit in judgment of God’s words. Sometimes we have difficulty seeing the irony in how vehemently we seek for our own ideas and thoughts be clearly heard and accurately understood, while seeking to devalue and emasculate God’s thoughts and ideas.
No, the Bible was not given for our enjoyment. God has spoken through the apostles and prophets so that we might carefully understand him and dutifully obey his voice. He does not want us to sit in judgment on his inscribed truth, picking and choosing what we prefer. Instead God has promised, “to this one I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word” (Is.66:2).
Restoration
As we read through the Book of Jeremiah we are confronted with a very familiar refrain, “God would never do that!” This is what the Lord’s faithful spokesman encountered when he exposed the gaping distance between the standards God had commanded in his word, and the values…
Precarious Paths
In the model prayer that Jesus provided to guide us into the kinds of prayer concerns we ought to habitually bring before the Father, he included the request: “lead us not into temptation” (Mt.6:13). I would hope this recurring appeal for God to direct us around sinfully enticing…
Exclusivity
Many take offense at our call to trust Christ for the forgiveness of their sins because it is so exclusive. They stumble over the words of Jesus when he said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (Jn.14:6). They despise the tone of our evangelism when it echoes…
Pleasing God First
The Bible often reminds us of the Christian calling to please those with whom we interact from day to day. Servants should please their masters (1Tim.6:1), children their parents (Col.3:20), citizens their governing authorities (Rom.13:1), parents should parent without exasperating their children (Eph.6:4), and the list goes…
Self-Serving
How are the decisions we make impacting those around us? Jesus said that we should seek to love others as we would love ourselves (Mt.22:39). Nothing could be more central to that command than for us to spend more time considering how our plans, actions, and words will either…
Well Wielded Words
At mealtime a parent may comfortably give their toddler a spoon, but never a knife. Eventually the child’s place setting will include one, but not until there is the maturity and self-control to safely employ its use. Perhaps this restrictive image is one we should recall when we consider God’s warning that “rash words are like…
Battlefield of the Mind
The progress in our sanctification is fought in the battlefield of our minds. Though the Bible often enlists the word “heart” for the “organ” we must guard so carefully (Pr.4:23), it is important to remember that this Hebrew analogy refers to the faculty of our thoughts, reason, imagination, intention, and contemplation. When God looked on the corrupt…
Exposing Anxiety
When God confronts the sin of anxiety in Philippians 4, his prescribed remedy helps to clearly diagnose the problem – especially in the lives of those who tend to downplay its repercussions and choose to think that worry is not that big of a deal. In Philippians 4:4-8 the Lord commands five things for those …
Health
Good health is good. It is certainly preferable to sickness and disease. Occasionally you’ll find some concern for it in Scripture (3Jn.2; 1Ti.5:23). But we should be careful not to cherry-pick from the few biblical passages regarding good health in order to justify today’s wide-spread obsession with it. Many godly and productive people in the …
Anger
Anger is admittedly a volatile and dangerous emotion. But it is important to note that it is not always a sinful emotion, and it certainly isn’t always expressed in sinful ways. God gives us adequate warning that…